1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to photolithographically-patterned, out-of-plane coil structures for use in integrated circuits, circuit boards and other devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Standard bonding techniques for electrically connecting integrated circuits, or chips, to a circuit board or other device include wire bonding, tab bonding, and solder-bump flip-chip bonding. FIG. 1 shows a contact pad 3 formed on a chip 2 wire bonded to a corresponding contact pad 3 formed on a substrate 1. The contact pads 3 are electrically connected, or bonded, by a wire 4. Since the chip 2 typically has tens or even hundreds of the contact pads 3, wire bonding each contact pad 3 on the chip 2 to the corresponding contact pad 3 on the substrate 1 is labor intensive, expensive and slow. Further, the contact pads 3 must be large enough to accommodate both the wire 4 and the accuracy of the wire bonding device used to create the wire bond. Therefore, the contact pads 3 are made larger than otherwise necessary to compensate for the size limitations of wire 4 and the wire bonding device.
FIG. 2 shows the contact pad 3 formed on the chip 2 tab bonded to the corresponding contact pad 3 on the substrate 1. A flexible substrate 5 having conductive lines formed on its lower surface is forced against the contact pads 3. A layer of anisotropic adhesive (not shown) is placed between the contact pads 3 and the flexible substrate 5. When the flexible substrate 5 is pressed against the contact pads 3, the anisotropic adhesive and the conductive lines formed on the flexible substrate 5 cooperate to complete the electrical connection between the contact pads 3. Like wire bonding, tab bonding suffers from yield loss and high cost. Irregularities in the heights of the contact pad 3 result in non-uniform contacting force pressing the flexible substrate 5 against the contact pads 3. The non-uniform contacting force means that some contact pads 3 will not be properly bonded to the flexible substrate 5.
Another conventional method for bonding the contact pads 3 formed on the chip 2 to the contact pads 3 formed on the substrate 1 or to some other device is solder-bump flip-chip bonding. FIG. 3 shows the chip 2 inverted with the contact pads 3 facing toward the substrate 1. The name xe2x80x9cflip-chipxe2x80x9d derives from the inversion of the chip 2, since the chip 2 is xe2x80x9cflipped overxe2x80x9d with the contacts pads 3 facing the substrate 1, in contrast to both tab bonding and wire bonding where the contact pads 3 on the chip 2 face away from the substrate 1. In standard flip-chip bonding, solder bumps 6 are formed on the contact pads 3 on the substrate 1. The electrical connection between the corresponding contact pads 3 is completed by pressing the contact pads 3 on the chip 2 against the solder bumps 6.
Flip-chip bonding is an improvement over both wire bonding and tab bonding. The relatively soft solder bumps 6 tend to permanently deform when the chip 2 is pressed down against the solder bumps 6. This deformation of the solder bumps 6 compensates for some irregularity in the heights of the contact pads 3 and any uneven contacting pressure forcing the chip 2 against the solder bumps 6.
However, flip-chip bonding does suffer from both mechanical and thermal variations in the solder bumps 6. If the solder bumps 6 are not uniform in height or if the substrate 1 is warped, contact between the contact pads 3 and the solder bumps 6 can be broken. Also, if the contacting pressure forcing the chip 2 down on the solder bumps 6 is uneven, contact between some contact pads 3 and corresponding solder bumps 6 can fail.
FIG. 4 shows a standard technique for establishing a temporary electrical contact between two devices. A probe card 7 having a plurality of probe needles 8 contacts the contact pads 3 by physically pressing the probe needles 8 against the contact pads 3. The physical contact between the probe needles 8 and the contact pads 3 creates an electrical connection between the probe needles 8 and the lines 9 formed on the substrate 1.
The probe cards 7 are generally used to create only temporary contacts between the probe needles 8 and the contact pads 3, so that the device 10 can be tested, interrogated or otherwise communicated with. The device 10 can be a matrix of display electrodes which are part of an active-matrix liquid crystal display. Testing of the devices 10, such as liquid crystal display electrode matrices, is more thoroughly described in an application JAO 34053 to the same inventor, co-filed and co-pending herewith and herein incorporated by reference.
The probe cards 7 have many more applications than only for testing liquid crystal displays. Any device 10 having numerous and relatively small contact pads 3, similar to those found on the chip 2, can be tested using the probe card 7. However, standard techniques for producing the probe card 7 are time consuming and labor-intensive. Each probe card 7 must be custom-made for the particular device 10 to be tested. Typically, the probe needles 8 are manually formed on the probe card 7. Because the probe cards 7 are custom-made and relatively expensive, the probe cards 7 are not typically made to contact all of the contact pads 3 on the device 10 at one time. Therefore, only portions of the device 10 can be communicated with, tested or interrogated at any one time, requiring the probe card 7 be moved to allow communication, testing or interrogation of the entire device 10.
The probe cards 7 are also used to test the chips 2 while the chips 2 are still part of a single-crystal silicon wafer. One such probe card 7 is formed by photolithographic pattern plated processing, as disclosed in Probing at Die Level, Corwith, Advanced Packaging, February, 1995, pp. 26-28. Photolithographic pattern plated processing produces probe cards 7 which have essentially the same design as the standard probe card 7. However, this new type of processing appears to automate the method for producing probe needles 8, thus avoiding manually forming the probe needles 8. Also, this article discloses a probe card 7 which is bent at the end nearest the probe needles 8, as shown in FIG. 5. The bend in the probe card 7 allows the probe needles 8 to contact the contact pad 3 at an angle. As the probe card 7 pushes the probe needles 8 into the contact pads 3, a mechanical scrubbing action occurs which allows the probe needles 8 to break through the oxide formed on the top surface of the contact pad 3.
All of the standard probe cards 7, however, are limited to testing contact pads 3 which are arranged in a linear array. Also, the standard probe cards 7 are sensitive to variations in the height of the contact pads 3 on the substrate 1, irregularities or warping of the substrate 1, and temperature variations.
The integration of small inductors on silicon substrates has been the subject of intense worldwide research for more than 15 years. This effort is driven by the desire to integrate coils on silicon and gallium arsenide integrated circuits (ICs). The structures proposed so far, however, have been variations of devices in which, due to technological constraints, the coil windings have almost always been implemented as spirals parallel to the underlying substrate.
These in-plane architectures have two major drawbacks. When made on a substrate that is slightly conducting such as silicon, the coil magnetic fields induce eddy currents in the underlying substrate. These currents cause resistive dissipation that contributes to the coil losses. The second problem arises when the coil is operated at high frequencies, where skin and proximity effects force the coil current to flow along the outer surfaces of the conductor. The xe2x80x9cskin depthxe2x80x9d is about 2 to 3 xcexcm for typical conductors at frequencies of interest for wireless communication, for example, 900 MHz, 1.9 GHz and 2.4 GHz. The AC resistance of the coil conductor becomes appreciably higher than its DC resistance because the cross section of the conductor is not fully used.
FIG. 31 shows the current distribution in in-plane coils operated at high frequencies. Darker shading in the coil indicates a higher current density. The disk-shaped coil shown in FIG. 31a has a current distribution that is concentrated at the outer edges of the winding wire. Therefore, widening the conductor simply increases the unused portion of the conductor and does not reduce the AC resistance. This situation may be compared to the typical discrete component, out-of-plane coil of FIG. 31b, where the AC resistance can be reduced by simply making the conductors wider.
Solutions have been proposed and tried in the past to address the drawbacks associated with in-plane inductor coils. Eddy currents can be reduced, for example, by etching away the substrate underneath the coil. However, this approach is not practical as it sacrifices structural integrity and destroys existing electronic circuitry on the silicon substrate. To reduce the AC resistance of the device in FIG. 31a, the conductor can be made very thick using micromachining techniques such as LIGA (see A. Rogner et al., xe2x80x9cThe LIGA techniquexe2x80x94what are the new opportunities,xe2x80x9d J. Micromech. Microeng., vol.2, pp. 133-140, 1992.). However, processing high aspect ratio structures is difficult and expensive.
Various out-of-plane techniques have been suggested. For example, Chukwunenye Stanley Nnebe, in xe2x80x9cA Mechanically-raised Micromachined Variable Inductor Coilxe2x80x9d (www.ee.cornell.edu/MENG/Abstracts/tien.htm) describes an out-of plane variable inductor structure. The structure is initially gold-metallized strips of polysilicon on the surface plane of the substrate, which are then raised and fastened via a hinging system to form a triangular geometry upon contact. After the setup of the coil is completed, the slider representing the magnetic core can then be activated through an impact system that is controlled by four comb-drive resonators (two comb-drive resonators for each direction of motion). The insertion of the magnetic core through the coils would influence the magnetic flux developed around the coils and, thus, would vary the inductance accordingly. The tuning range of the inductor is set by this effect, and reliable data may be obtained by carefully controlling the four resonators that actuate the slider causing it to move a finite distance through the coils. Such a technique is fairly complicated to micromachine and requires additional components on valuable chip real estate.
Robert Marcus et al. in International PCT Application number WO 99/18445 filed Oct. 2, 1998, titled Michromachined element and Method of Fabrication thereof discloses a coiled structure that is formed by depositing two layers of material having different coefficients of thermal expansion on a sacrificial layer, removing the sacrificial layer, then heating the cantilevered structure until it curls partially upon itself. Coil closure is achieved by patterning a tethered end to the tip of the cantilevered structure. When the sacrificial layer is removed and the cantilever heated, the cantilever curls on itself, causing the tethered end to twist. Such a method and structure, however, is impractical for creating arrays of densely packed, integrated micro-inductors and other structures on silicon substrates.
Low-loss inductors that can be integrated on chip are most desirable in wireless communication devices such as cellular phones, pagers, GPS receivers, warehouse management RF identification tags, wireless computer LANs, personal digital assistants, and satellite telecommunication. Small portable devices, in particular, require the lowest possible power consumption for extended battery life and a maximal circuit integration to reduce device size and PC board complexity. The quest for low-loss inductors is driven by a fundamental trade-off between power consumption on one hand and the need for low-loss circuit passives (i.e. inductors and capacitors) on the other. Lowering the transistor bias in radio circuits reduces the power dissipation, but also significantly degrades amplifier gains, oscillator stability and filter selectivity. Using low-loss passives is the only viable technique to overcome this problem. Low-loss capacitors in the 0.1 to 100 pF range are routinely integrated on chip nowadays. However, state-of-the-art integrated coil architectures are still too lossy to be of use in integrated RF designs. All present RF chipsets, therefore, are limited to using discrete inductors that form a real estate bottleneck in today""s increasingly miniaturized applications.
Modem wireless designs typically run in the lower GHz bands. The standard frequencies for cellular phones are 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 1.9 GHz and 2.4 GHZ, while 900 MHz is the frequency of choice for digital cordless phones. The 410-430 MHz, 870 MHz and 900-930 MHz bands are used for wireless RS-232, computer LANs and RF identification. At these 100 MHz to GHz frequencies, the passives of choice are typically, for inductors, 1 to 30 nH and, for capacitors, 1 to 30 pF. The intermediate frequencies in superheterodyne receivers are 40 to 350 MHz which calls for passives in the order of 100 to 1000 nH and 10 to 100 pF. Although high quality on-chip capacitors ranging from 0.1 pF to 100 pF are commonplace, integrated inductors and integrated variable capacitors that meet the low-loss requirements are currently not available.
Variable capacitors (varicaps) that can be integrated on chip are also in great demand. The benchmark architecture for contemporary wireless transceivers is still the superheterodyne architecture, which uses both inductors and varicaps. Variable capacitors are essential components of superheterodyne circuits used in many wireless devices. Superheterodyne circuits containing both inductors and capacitors currently cannot be integrated on chip in commercial devices, and so present a bottleneck to device miniaturization. The missing links in implementing fill superheterodyne wireless architectures on a chip are inductors with quality factors of at least 30 to 50, variable capacitors (varicaps) with a tuning range of 10% and quality factors of 30 to 50, and oscillators with quality factors of 10,000 or more. The process technology for making the capacitors should be compatible with the process for making the inductors.
Present wireless devices use discrete off-chip components to implement superheterodyne circuits. The very high Q oscillator is usually a crystal oscillator. There are also numerous Voltage Controlled Oscillators (VCOs), each of which uses at least one discrete inductor and one discrete varicap. Because of these discrete components VCOs occupy a large portion of many RF circuit area. Being able to integrate entire VCOs on chip requires a new type of varicap as well as inductor.
There is a need for a micromachined coil structure which is easy to manufacture and does not use a lot of chip real estate. There is a need for low loss coil structures and variable capacitors that can be integrated on conductive substrates, such as silicon. There is also a need for an integrated coil structure in which the windings have lower resistance. There is a need for a method of manufacturing a coil structure in which closing the turns of the coil electrically produces a viable electrical structure. There is a need for a manufacturable technique that results in a closed coil structure suitable for high-Q integrated passive inductor elements. There is a need for a manufacturing technique which would enable the integration of both on chip inductors and varicaps.
Accordingly, this invention provides a spring contact which exhibits the speed and ease of solder-bump flip-chip bonding while eliminating the need to create uniform solder bumps or uniform contacting pressure. This invention further provides a spring contact which has elastic properties enabling the spring contact to maintain physical contact with a contact pad despite variations in contact pad heights, contacting pressure or thermal variations. This invention also provides an elastic spring contact having a stress gradient formed in the spring contact, which causes the spring contact to bend away from the substrate and thus provide compliant contact with a contact pad. This invention further provides a probe card and a method for producing the probe card having spring contacts in place of standard probe needles.
The spring contacts of this invention are formed of a thin metal strip which is in part fixed to a substrate and electrically connected to a contact pad on the substrate. The free portion of the metal strip not fixed to the substrate bends up and away from the substrate. When the contact pad on a device is brought into pressing contact with the free portion of the metal strip, the free portion deforms and provides compliant contact with the contact pad. Since the metal strip is electrically conductive or coated with a conductive material, the contact pad on the substrate is electrically connected to the contact pad on the device via the spring contact.
Another embodiment of the invention overcomes the drawbacks of planar coil structures in that the coil structures of the invention place the coil axis parallel, rather than perpendicular, to the substrate plane. A coil structure, according to the invention, includes a substrate and an elastic member having an intrinsic stress profile. The elastic member includes a first anchor portion fixed to the substrate, a loop winding and a second anchor portion connected to the substrate. The second anchor portion and the loop winding are initially fixed to the substrate, but are released from the substrate to become separated from the substrate. An intrinsic stress profile in the elastic member biases the second anchor portion away from the substrate forming the loop winding and causing the second anchor portion to contact the substrate. The resulting coil structure is out-of-the plane of the substrate. The loop winding may also include a plurality of turns.
Various techniques may be used to position the second anchor portion away from the takeoff point of the elastic member, either tangentially or axially. if the second anchor point is positioned tangentially from the takeoff point, the loop winding is generally in the shape of a circle, i.e., the second anchor portion contacts the substrate in the same vertical plane as the first anchor portion. Various techniques may be used to position the second anchor portion tangentially from the takeoff point. For example, a mechanical stop can be fixed to the substrate at the desired location. Alternatively, the radius of curvature of the elastic member may be varied, such as by adding a load layer uniformly across the width of a portion of the elastic member or by patterning one or more openings or perforations uniformly across the width of a portion of the elastic member.
If the second anchor portion is positioned axially from the takeoff point or first anchor portion, the loop winding is generally in the shape of a helix. Several techniques may be used to form the loop winding in a helix. For example, a uniform stress anisotropy may be introduced into the elastic member, which causes a helical deformation in the released layer. Alternatively, the radius of curvature can be varied in the elastic member to introduce a helical deformation. This can be accomplished by varying the intrinsic stress profile in the elastic member as a function of position. A helical winding may also be formed by causing the resulting loop winding to have two (or more) different radii of curvature. This may be accomplished, for example, by forming one or more openings asymmetrically in the elastic member prior to release or by forming a load layer at an angle on a portion of the elastic member (upon release, the weight of the load layer causes the loop winding to be axially offset).
Various techniques can be used to connect the second anchor portion to the substrate. For example, the second anchor portion can be soldered or plated to the substrate. Each anchor portion can be attached to a metal contact pad attached to the substrate, for providing electrical connectivity to other elements in a circuit. Preferably the elastic member is formed of a conductive material. Alternatively, a layer of a conductive metal, such as gold or silver, may be plated on an inner surface, an outer surface, or both surfaces.
This novel structure allows, for the first time, the integration of submillimeter-size high-Q inductors on both insulating and conductive substrates. When fabricated on a conductive substrate like silicon, the coil structure produces much fewer magnetic flux lines that intercept the substrate than present in-plane micro-coils, which then results in fewer eddy currents induced in the substrate and lower coil losses. Furthermore, the coil structures may be used as inductors, which are compatible with toroidal architectures that confine magnetic fields exceedingly well. This property enables multiple micro-coils to be packed densely without coupling with each other. At high operating frequencies, skin and proximity effects increase the coil resistance. Unlike in-plane micro-coils, the out-of-plane coil structures can be easily designed for low resistance operation without complicated high aspect-ratio processing. The out-of-plane coil structures are also compatible with numerous micro-coil embodiments such as center-tapped inductors and transformers for a wide range of applications.
A method for forming a coil structure, according to the invention, includes depositing a layer of an elastic material on a substrate, the elastic material having an intrinsic stress profile. The layer of elastic material is then photolithographically patterned into an elastic member. A portion of the substrate under the patterned structure is undercut etched to release a free portion of the elastic member from the substrate, an anchor portion of the elastic member remaining fixed to the substrate. The intrinsic stress profile in the elastic member biases the free portion of the elastic member away from the substrate, forming a loop winding and causing the free end to contact a point on the substrate. This free end can then be connected to the substrate by, for example soldering or plating.
During the removal of sacrificial layers from the substrate, the intrinsic stress bends metal containing strips into the turns of an inductor coil. Fabrication of micro-coil structures requires control over the coil geometry, in particular the coil radius, and, if a stress anisotropy is present, the helical pitch of the coil elements as well. If, for example, the loop has a constant radius r of curvature, and the length of the released portion is 2xc2x0 r, the free end will naturally return to the take-off point of the loop. By placing a mechanical stop at a position away from the take off point, the free end can be positioned and anchored. Magnetic structures can be created with such loops by connecting the loops on the substrate with contact pads which extend from the take off point of one loop to the contact point of an adjoining loop, producing a spiral. In another embodiment, the free end of the spring is offset axially and/or transversely with respect to the takeoff point in order to provide for contact to adjacent loop pads. Mechanical and electrical contact is made permanent, for example, by soldering, conductive adhesive, thermal compressive bonding or plating.
One aspect of the invention recognizes that it is possible to create helical coiled structures of controlled diameter and pitch by exploiting stress anisotropy engineered into the deposited metal. The helical twisting provides the useful feature that the free end of the spring is shifted longitudinally (or axially) from the take-off point. In principle, this allows formation of a continuous inductor consisting of multiple turns without interruption of the spring metal. It also allows segments of more than one turn to be joined in order to produce an inductor. These structures reduce the number of coil-closing interconnects, and thereby minimize the impact of interconnects on inductor quality factor.
Another aspect of this invention relates to producing a turn of a coil endowed with the property of non-constant radius. This allows the free end of the elastic member to contact a point other than the take-off point of the loop, either tangentially from the takeoff point or offset axially from the takeoff point. Once a point away from the take-off point is contacted electrically, the un-lifted metal can be used to run a trace to any other point of an electrical circuit, including to another loop of an inductor. Several ways of varying the radius of curvature are described, including varying the intrinsic stress profile along the elastic member, depositing a load layer along a portion of the elastic member, and photolithographically patterning perforations in the elastic member.
A new type of high-Q variable capacitor includes a substrate, a first electrically conductive layer fixed to the substrate, a dielectric layer fixed to a portion of the electrically conductive layer, and a second electrically conductive layer having an anchor portion and a free portion. The anchor portion is fixed to the dielectric layer and the free portion is initially fixed to the dielectric layer, but is released from the dielectric layer to become separated from the dielectric layer. An inherent stress profile in the second electrically conductive layer biases the free portion away from the dielectric layer. When a bias voltage is applied between the first electrically conductive layer and the second electrically conductive layer, electrostatic forces in the free portion bend the free portion towards the first electrically conductive layer, thereby increasing the capacitance of the capacitor.
The manufacturing techniques of the invention can be used to create a tunable LC combination employing a coil structure and variable capacitor to provide full superheterodyne wireless architectures on a silicon chip.